Abstract: The present invention provides a robot system for learning one or more new semantic relations in a knowledge base of physical skills. The system is configured to obtain knowledge on a physical skill by observing a demonstration, by a human user, of the physical skill, update the knowledge base with the obtained knowledge, generate a hypothesis of using the physical skill in a different context compared to a context of the demonstration by performing similarity considerations on the knowledge base using the obtained knowledge, present the hypothesis to the human user, receive a confirmation or a refusal from the human user with regard to the presentation of the hypothesis to the human user, and update the knowledge base according to the hypothesis in case of receiving the confirmation or discard the hypothesis in case of receiving the refusal.

Abstract: An autonomous working device comprises at least one sensor configured to generate a sensor signal based on a physical interaction of the autonomous working device with a physical entity, at least one actuator configured to perform a working task, and a controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling the actuator. The controller is configured to evaluate the sensor signal, to determine a pattern of a physical interaction of the autonomous working device with a person and to generate the control signal based on the determined pattern of a physical interaction.

Abstract: A weed control method for an autonomous work device comprising driving means configured to move the autonomous work device in an outdoor environment, sensor means configured to sense an environment of the autonomous work device and to generate a sensor signal based on the sensed environment, and a control circuit configured to control the driving means to navigate the autonomous work device in the environment based on the sensor signal. The weed control method comprises a step of obtaining a location of a target plant in the environment. The control circuit controls the driving means in a weed suppression mode, to position at least one wheel of the driving means on the computed location of the target plant and to perform a predetermined movement pattern of the autonomous work device while simultaneously maintaining the at least one wheel in an area at the location of the target plant.

Abstract: A weed control system includes an autonomous work device, and the autonomous work device includes driving means configured to move the autonomous work device, sensor means configured acquire a sensor signal from the environment of the autonomous device, and a control circuit configured to control the driving means to navigate the autonomous work device in the environment. The weed control system includes at least one disposable releasable shading plate arranged on a release mechanism of the autonomous work device. The control circuit is configured to detect plants in the environment based on the acquired sensor signal, to determine whether a detected plant is a target plant, and in case a detected plant is a target plant, to control the release mechanism to release the releasable shading plate onto the location of the detected target plant.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for performing a design process by processing design data of a physical object. The method includes acquiring a dataset including design data samples of design data, determining at least one design concept including design data samples from the acquired dataset based on at least a similarity of feature values of design features, calculating a local similarity measure between at least two description spaces for each design data sample included in the determined design concept, selecting a number of design data samples based on the calculated local similarity measure as most representative designs and least representative designs, outputting the selected most representative design to an engineering process for further processing or deleting the least representative design from the design data samples of the respective design concept, and processing at least one of the most representative design data samples in the engineering process.

Abstract: A method for assisting a person to perform a task in a dynamic environment comprises a step of acquiring data on the dynamic environment, and of predicting at least one behavior of an object or event in the dynamic environment based on the acquired data. The method proceeds by determining a relevance measure of the at least one behavior of the object or event based on the prediction. Then a modulation signal is generated, wherein the modulation signal changes at least one signal parameter as a function of the determined relevance. The modulation signal is then used to modulate at least one directional stimulus signal, wherein the at least one modulated directional stimulus signal further depends on a direction of the predicted at least one behavior of the object or event with respect to the assisted person. The at least one modulated stimulus signal is then output to the assisted person.

Abstract: A method, scheduling server and system for improving automated scheduling are provided. The automated scheduling is at least partially based on user settings input by users includes: obtaining user settings for the users, the user settings defining user preferences and personal constraints of each user, obtaining system boundary conditions from a schedule goal and technical conditions to achieve a desired goal and calculating a schedule. The acceptance probabilities for alternative user settings are predicted. At least one alternative user setting is selected and an alternative schedule for each selected alternative setting is calculated. The alternative schedules are compared to the initially calculated schedule with respect to quality measure. After reading in the user's response to the suggested alternative setting another alternative setting is selected in case the user declined, or the systems proceeds with accepting the alternative setting as obtained user specific setting.

Abstract: A method and a system for controlling at least one of a traffic infrastructure device, an actuator of a traffic participant based on enhanced traffic data is provided. The method comprises steps of monitoring, by a trigger processor, an area; generating, by the trigger processor, trigger data in case a trigger event is determined in the monitored area and providing the generated trigger data indicating an area-of-interest to an image data source; obtaining image data on the area-of-interest based on the transmitted trigger data and transmitting the obtained image data to a traffic evaluation processor; evaluating, by the traffic evaluation processor, the obtained image data to generate enhanced traffic data on the area-of-interest; and outputting, by the traffic evaluation processor, the generated enhanced traffic data in a control signal, wherein the control signal is configured to control the traffic infrastructure device and/or the actuator of the traffic participant.

Abstract: A method for mitigating effects of a shipment time delay of intermediate products and materials in a manufacturing process comprises, in a training phase, obtaining historical supplier data of the intermediate products and materials, obtaining process parameters of the manufacturing process that are observable for the manufacturing process, and obtaining external data that are independent from the manufacturing process. The method applies a machine learning algorithm to generate a model for predicting a time delay risk in the manufacturing process based on the historical supplier data, the process parameters of the manufacturing process and the external data, and records the generated model in a database.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for learning operators for planning a behavior of an autonomous device. The method includes obtaining a set of training data including observations of a plurality of skills executable by the autonomous device in an interaction with at least one entity for addressing a first task, obtaining a predetermined set of data defining a hierarchy of entities including the at least one entity, learning a set of individual skills based on the obtained set of training data, generating a set of generalized skills by generalizing the learned set of individual skills based on the predetermined set of data that defining a hierarchy of entities, performing behavior planning of the autonomous device for addressing a second task different from the first task based on the generalized set of skills.

Abstract: A method for controlling at least one effector trajectory of an effector of a robot for solving a predefined task is proposed. A sequence of postures are acquired to modify at least one of a contact constraint topology and an object constraint topology. A set of constraint equations are generated based on at least one of the modified contact constraint topology and the modified object constraint topology. On the generated set of constraint equations, a constraint relaxation is performed to generate a task description including a set of relaxed constraint equations. The at least one effector trajectory is generated by applying a trajectory generation algorithm on the task description. An inverse kinematics algorithm is performed to generate a control signal from the at least one effector trajectory. At least one effector is controlled to execute the at least one effector trajectory based on the generated control signal.

Abstract: A method for controlling at least one autonomous device which is one of at least two agents that cooperatively perform a common task in a common environment is provided. The method comprises: obtaining variables on a current state of each agent in the common environment, and obtaining a further variable on a current state of the common environment that describes a distance of the current state of the agents to a common goal state or a task success; determining a quantitative measure for cooperative behaviour of the agents that quantifies an extent to which a mutual support or an adaption in joint cooperative actions towards the common goal state increases a joint action space of the agents; optimizing a joint behaviour of the agents using the quantitative measure based on the obtained variables to determine an action of the autonomous device; and outputting a control signal for controlling the action.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system for evaluating a mission of a mobile entity. The system comprises a means for obtaining information on a planned trajectory, the mobile entity, mission requirements, environment and public body rules, a means for transforming the information into a symbolic, probabilistic representation to generate a probabilistic logic program, wherein facts are extracted from the information and systematically designated with names within the probabilistic logic program, and a means for generating an answer to the a probabilistic logic query based on the probabilistic logic program.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method is provided. The method calculates an importance score for each agent of the at least one other agent based on the acquired sensor data and the acquired position and motion data, generates a list comprising the at least one other agent based on the calculated importance scores of the at least one other agent, partitions the generated list in at least one partition based on the importance score of the at least one other agent, and generates a prediction result by predicting a behavior of the at least one other agent included in the at least one partition based on the sensor data and the position and motion data using a selected behavior prediction model. The selected behavior prediction model is selected from a plurality of behavior prediction models based on the importance score of the at least one agent included in the at least one partition.

Abstract: A method and system for controlling at least one effector trajectory for at least one effector of a robot for solving a predefined task are proposed. A graph of postures is acquired, and at least one of a contact constraint topology and an object constraint topology are accordingly modified. A set of constraint equations based on at least one of the modified contact constraint topology and the modified object constraint topology are generated. Constraint relaxation is performed on the generated set of constraint equations to generate a task description including the relaxed set of constraint equations. The effector trajectory is generated by applying a trajectory generation algorithm on the generated task description. An inverse kinematics algorithm is performed on the generated effector trajectory for generating a control signal, and the effector is controlled to execute the effector trajectory based on the generated control signal.

Abstract: A system comprising an autonomous mobile device and a base station connected to a boundary wire is configured to transmit information from the base station to the autonomous mobile device. The base station is configured to generate a radio signal to be emitted by the boundary wire, wherein the autonomous mobile device is configured to autonomously drive within a working area based on the signal emitted by the boundary wire. The base station on the other hand is configured to encode data and/or commands into the radio signal which is then emitted by the boundary wire. The autonomous mobile device receive the emitted radio signal and is configured to decode the encoded data and/or commands in order to retrieve the original information.

Abstract: A method and corresponding system for improving an interaction process in a social network for a user with at least one other person is provided. The method comprises a step of, in a training phase, acquiring sensor data on at least a user state and interaction data on a social interaction of a human person with the at least one other person. The acquired sensor data and the interaction data is then analyzed in order to generate classifier data from the acquired sensor data and the acquired interaction data. In a subsequent application phase, the method acquires current sensor data on at least the user state of the at least one other person, predicts an interaction score for the user based on the acquired current sensor data and the classifier data, and generates an interaction identifier for the user for an interaction with the at least one other person in the social network based on the predicted interaction score.

Abstract: A method and simulation system for controlling at least one effector trajectory for solving a predefined task by at least one virtual effector. The method includes acquiring a sequence of postures to modify at least one of a contact constraint topology and an object constraint topology, generating a set of constraint equations based on at least one of the modified contact constraint topology and the modified object constraint topology, performing constraint relaxation on the generated set of constraint equations to generate a task description including the relaxed set of constraint equations, generating the effector trajectory by applying a trajectory generation algorithm on the generated task description, performing an inverse kinematics algorithm on the generated effector trajectory for generating a control signal, outputting the control signal to an output device, and generating, by the output device, image information displaying the effector trajectory of the virtual effector based on the control signal.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for optimizing a design of a physical object comprises: obtaining a data representation of the design of the physical object, including a plurality of elements, determining plural element clusters comprising a plurality of elements and estimating a cost model for the physical object. The method determines derivatives of the cost model with respect to a material density of each cluster. At least one analytical derivative of a performance metric for each element is computed. The design is optimized by iteratively performing: varying the material density of at least one element based on the analytical derivative and the estimated derivatives of the cost model, estimating the cost using the cost model based on the data representation with varied material density. The method generates and outputs a signal comprising the optimized data representation in case a termination criterion has been met.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method obtains a dataset including design data samples, each sample representing a design variation of the physical object and including design features, each design feature included in a description space. The method determines concept candidates from the obtained dataset based on at least a feature value similarity of the design features, each concept candidate including a data sample group, for generating concept candidate configurations. The method calculates a metric for said configurations which defines a quality of the generated configurations and evaluates the design features of different description spaces, and evaluates said configurations based on the calculated metric to generate concepts. One or more representative data sample for each concept is determined based on at least one criterion. The determined representative data samples are output. A design process for the physical object based on the output representative data samples for each concept is performed.